Do Not Track may not mean what you think it means

[David Baxter PhD]

Why Apple is disabling Safari’s Do Not Track feature
by Jonny Evans, Computerworld
Feb 7, 2019

Apple takes privacy very seriously. It takes its leadership in that care seriously, and getting rid of the voluntary 'Do Not Track' setting in its Safari browser is the right decision.

Why disabling Safari’s Do Not Track feature is the right thing to do
Apple introduced support for Do Not Track (DNT) in iOS 7, but removed the feature in Safari 12.1.

The problem with DNT is that the signal it sends to websites, analytics firms, plug-in makers and ad networks is a voluntary request, and can be ignored.

There is no penalty if an organization fails to honor your request, the DuckDuckGo blog reminds us – even though a big chunk (over 20 percent) of surfers want to be left alone.

The private by design search company puts it this way, saying that the voluntary nature of DNT makes it: "About as fool proof as putting a sign on your front lawn that says 'Please, don’t look into my house' while all of your blinds remain open."

However, a huge chunk of people who use DNT are unaware that it is a voluntary scheme and have no idea their request is not being honored.

They think they are safe from unregulated prying eyes.

They are not.

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